Halfling
by J-Rocker Girl
Summary: Duzell meets another member of Ishtar's family, but finds out something very strange about her. Slightly AU, I've only read up to Vol.9. R&R, thanks!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Duzie said he'd fry me if I didn't do this…and I currently don't have a lawyer. So, I don't own Vampire Game, Judal does. Okay, Duzie, you can calm down now…

AN: first Vampire Game ficcie for me. I haven't read all of it yet because I can't read Japanese. I Know there's a Mil Sei and I know it has a prince, ergo…no flamers, thankies!

Chapter 1

Subconscious

Shielle sat up as straight as she could in her high-backed chair as the Council of Mil Sei finally left the large conference room. Her ears perked up a bit as she heard snippets of the departing party's conversation.

"Why did the king leave the kingdom to her?" a small old woman with dark gray hair asked.

"She was his oldest daughter," a tall, balding man explained. "But everyone in the palace knows that she's not human…"

"Perhaps," Shielle's small sister interjected. "He reasoned that she would be the best choice in the matter," Yamenne added. "Unless you would like a ruler like my brother."

The two shrugged and finally left, taking the rest of the old geezers with them.

"I wonder how Ishtar did it…" Shielle pondered.

"How she did what?" Yamenne asked.

"Dealt with her parents' deaths."

"She was very young when they died, perhaps she did not understand completely," she said, sitting next to her sister in a smaller chair. "I wonder how our cousin is doing…"

Shielle ran her fingers through her long, straight silver hair. "Maybe if we invite her over we could get some advice…" Yamenne suggested

"Maybe if we ask really nicely Darres will skewer Yameene…"

"We can't ask for miracles, sister." Even though the prince was her twin brother…he had security issues to work out. She looked out the window. "Shielle, the sun is rising, I think you should get to bed."

"I guess you're right…" Shielle said, resting her face in her hand. Why did her father have to fall in love with a vampire…?

"Sister, father was young…he hadn't even taken the throne yet…" Yamenne said, taking her wavy black hair to braid it. "You shouldn't blame him. Besides, if not for your unusual inheritance, you wouldn't be immune to poison, or be able to fend off assassins so well."

Shielle looked away. Her sister had to be a telepath as well…"I'm going to bed."

"Have a good sleep."

Shielle lay in bed, fingering the last thing her father left her, a ruelle. He had never told her what it was for, and couldn't explain while he was lying on his death bed.

She still couldn't help letting her thoughts drift to Ishtar…she hadn't seen her cousin in four years. Ishtar was a cool for an eleven year-old. She wondered what she was doing right then as she started to drift off asleep, still holding the ruelle, not noticing that the object had been to pulsate.

"Duzie, hi!" Ishtar greeted her friend as the vampire king walked into her room. "I've been thinking lately…"

"That usually ends up in disaster…" Duzell grumbled, sitting in a chair next to her bed. "What have you been thinking?"

"I've got three more cousins in Mil Sei and an uncle. That's four good candidates for Phelios!" she declared with a smile.

"…"

"Well, there's Uncle Yameene, his two legitimate children, Yameene and Yamenne. And my personal favorite of that group, Shielle!"

"Shielle!" Duzell asked incredulously.

"You know someone named Shielle?" Ishtar asked with a blink.

"It's…probably just a coincidence…"

"Tell me!"

Duzell rolled his eyes and stood up. "When you're older…" he said flatly, turning into his kyawl form and walking out.

"Ah, you're no fun…"

"Captain…" Jill started.

"Can we have breakfast already? I've been up for three hours and I haven't had anything to eat!" Krai whined, holding his stomach

"Stop whining," Darres snapped. "This is only the first shift of the day, you'd think the royal bodyguards could hold their stomachs for a few hours. Besides, you've asked me that every day and I give you the same answer…"

"Wait for the princess," Jill and Krai answered simultaneously.

"…The princess's personal doctor doesn't have to wait for her…" Jill grumbled as a small furry animal walked into the hallway. "Or her cat…"

"C-captain…" Krai started a little nervously.

"What is it now?" Darres asked, not even looking in his general direction.

Duzell looked in the general direction, though, noticing that there was a bright glowing aura floating over the floor. It didn't feel like a ghost…what was it?

"What is that!" Jill finished for his partner.

Darres finally looked over and fell silent.

The three men and the small cat watched the aura as a figure formed in it and fell to the floor. The aura had gone away, but the figure grabbed their head and let out a curse.

"Who in the…?" Krai started.

"Captain, should we restrain her?" Jill asked.

Darres examined the person who had apparently teleported here with a ruelle…she seemed familiar…but. "No!" he said, in realization. "That's Lady Shielle of Mil Sei!"

"Huh?" Ishtar asked, opening her door and peeking out.

"Alright!" Jill shouted.

"Breakfast!" Krai added as the two ran off for the kitchen, leaving their captain, who seemed to have control of the situation.

"Shielle!" Ishtar said happily, running to her cousin.

"Ishtar?" Shielle asked groggily.

Duzell stood in silent astonishment. There was no coincidence there…this girl… The only difference was the dramatically black eyes, but every other feature of her was identical to his sister's…

"What are you doing here?" Ishtar asked with a cheerful smile. She never let confusion get her down.

"I don't know," Shielle admitted. "I was trying to get to sleep and the next thing I know, I'm falling onto your hall floor…"

Darres blinked. "You didn't use a ruelle?" he asked, helping her up.

Shielle lifted the small ring. "I guess I did it unconsciously or something." She examined it a bit more. "This thing teleports? I'm not too good with magic…"

"Yeah, I've used one before!" Ishtar announced. "My kitty and I went to Ci Xeneth!" she added, picking up Kitty-Duzie. "This is my kitty Duzell, ain't he cute!"

Shielle yawned and patted Duzie's head. "Very cute…I'm sorry, I know I just unexpectedly teleported, but can I go to sleep, please?"

Duzell stayed stock still in Ishtar's arms…she even smelled like his sister. And if she was nocturnal…

Ishtar smiled, remembering when she would stay over the Mil Sei palace and Shielle would have a nocturnal schedule. "Sure, you can use my room!" the princess said happily. "Want a snuggle buddy?" she asked, holding up Duzell. She was going to drag that information out of him whether he liked it or not.

"Eh…he doesn't look like he'd particularly like that…" Shielle said with a sweat-drop. Not only was it weird that her cousin had named the cat after her bloodline's mortal enemy, but the kitten seemed to be…glaring?

Duzell freed himself from Ishtar's clutches and walked into her room. He had to find out more…

Shielle shrugged. "Okay…I guess he wants a nap, too. Have a good breakfast," she said to Ishtar. "And thanks for not wigging out when I came, Darres." With that, she walked in after the cat.

Duzell sat at the foot of the bed, waiting for her to go to sleep. Maybe if he talked to her while she was half-asleep, she would think it was a dream or something. Finally, she started breathing regularly.

The small cat jumped from the bed and transformed to his tall, majestic form of the Vampire King. He leaned over her, to try and see if he had made a mistake, but with her eyes closed, she looked even more like his sister.

Even Ishtar must have noted the resemblance , which was probably why she told him to go in with her.

"Must have been named after your mother…" Duzell thought aloud at barely a whisper.

Shielle turned over and grumbled in her sleep. She took in a deep breath and sighed. That wasn't a good sign. She sat up and looked at the foot of the bed. "Must have jumped off." She turned her head and caught sight of Duzell.

Awkward silence.

Shielle stared at the stranger in awe. They looked almost exactly alike and something about him said he was a vampire. But she was so confused, she didn't say anything.

"Were you named after your mother?" Duzell found himself asking, he was going to wait for her to dismiss it as a dream, but...

"Y-yes…" she responded. "And you are…?"

Duzell took in a deep breath. "Duzell the Vampire King. And apparently, I'm your uncle." He said with great difficulty, there was no way he could even lie to himself about this….

"And what are you doing in Pheliosta?"

"I'm not really sure anymore…"

The two looked over as the door creaked open. "Oh! Shielle your awake!" Ishtar walked in a closed the door behind her.

"Yeah…" Shielle started. "Your kitty grew," she said, pointing to Duzell, still a little confused. "At least I think it's your kitty."

"Oh, you met Duzie, neat! So, Duzie, is she who you thought she was?" she asked, acting like nothing was amiss.

"She's…my niece."

"Aw, Duzie's an uncle!" Ishtar cooed. "And she's related to me! Which means she's related to Phelios and Duzell. Cool! "

Yamenne peeked into her sister's room to check and see if she was sleeping. Ever since their father died, she had a habit of staying up, but to her surprise, her sister wasn't in her room. Yamenne had been wandering around the palace, taking care of things, so she knew she was no where in the palace.

She walked in and looked around. Then the small, black-haired girl remembered her sister's heirloom from their father. A ruelle. A teleporting device. If Shielle had been drifting off to sleep…they had spoken of Ishtar that very day…all possibility pointed to Pheliosta. But Pheliosta was so far away. The Council would never let her go alone, and she needed someone to keep things in check while she retrieved her sister. Which meant…resorting to desperate measures.

"Yameene," she said, walking into a lounging room her brother was very fond of. As usual, he had two women by his side and a very smug expression on his face.

"What is it?" he asked. "I'm having a conversation," he finished, pointing to a very bored Laphiji sitting across from him. Obviously, her elder twin brother was doing all the talking.

"I'm sorry," she said, not really meaning it. "But Shielle has teleported herself unknowingly to Pheliosta. I am going to bring her back, and I need you to keep things in order while I'm gone."

"And how did she get all the way to Pheliosta?" Yameene asked with a laugh.

"A ruelle."

"Even if you could, the Council would never let you go alone."

"No," Laphiji said out of the blue. "They would send an incompetent search party that didn't know where Pheliosta was on a map." He stood up and turned to Yamenne. "I will accompany you. My mother wished for me to rest, but this is a matter of the state."

Yameene put on an almost evil grin. "Let her stay there. Father should have left the kingdom to the eldest son, not the result of some fling with a monster."

Yamenne was not a violent person, but when it came to her brother, things were definitely different. Almost every time she talked to him, something within the conversation made her shake with rage.

"We should leave immediately," Laphiji said, going over to his cousin. "Pheliosta is very far away and we must have the rightful leader on the throne."

"But we were having a conversation!" Yameene whined.

"No," Laphiji said flatly. "You were giving me a monologue. I had no part in it." With that, he led Yamenne outside before she burst out at her brother.

"Thank you," Yamenne said after Laphiji had closed the door. "I don't what I would do if I had to be in charge of one of our search parties."

Laphiji nodded. "Anything is better than listening to that imbecile talk about himself."

AN: what did you think? Yes, I know Laphiji was rather talkative…for him anyway, but, as you can tell he and Yamenne only speak when necessary, and if he isn't at least somewhat talkative, we won't have hardly any dialogue, no will we? I know Duzie was a little out of character, too, but after getting into character with him and Shielle, I got confused myself, I'll try not to do that in the future. Please READ AND REVIEW. I haven't read past volume nine, so I don't know where Yuujin / Yuujel ended up…er…yeah.


	2. Conspiracies

AN: sorry, guess I had to be a little more specific. Shielle is Yamenne and Yameene's half sister. They just act like they're full siblings. Except for Yameene, but he's just annoying. And yes, Yamenne and Yameene are twins (fraternal, not identical). Thanks for the reviews by the way.

Chapter 2

Conspiracies

"Uh…Captain?" Jill asked around noon after Ishtar and Shielle decided to have a private conversation in a sitting room. "Have you noticed Lady Shielle is a little er…violent?"

"A little!" Krai repeated. "She flipped me the bird when I asked her if she wanted an escort to the stables!"

"Lady Shielle has always been like that," Darres explained. "You kinda need that sort of attitude when you put up with the Council of Elders in Mil Seii. It's like putting up with forty Sir Keld clones."

Jill and Krai both shuddered. They thought Ishtar had that bad…

"So Duzell is your cat and he can copy your appearance?" Shielle asked, checking to make sure she had this right.

"Yup!" Ishtar chirped. "And he and I have been searching for the reincarnation of Phelios! No luck yet."

"If I introduce you to my brother and he's still not Phelios, will you kill him anyway?" Shielle asked the vampire king.

"Depends if he fits my palate or not," Duzell answered. "The way you keep talking about him, he sounds like he tastes like acid."

"You have no idea…"

Duzie turned into his kyawl form as the door creaked open.

"Sir Vord here to see you, Ladies," Darres announced, letting Vord in.

"Ladies?" Vord asked, a little confused. "I—" he started, looking in the room after the door closed. "Hey, Shielle!—Wait a…how did you get here?"

"Well, if it ain't the Jolly Blond Giant," Shielle said with a smile.

"Haha, you've grown up, too," Vord answered, looking her up and down.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, kid, I'm still two years older than you and can still kick your sorry carcass the arena."

"Ya got me there," he said with a laugh, but stopped when he saw Duzell turn back to his actual form. "No way…" he said, looking from the vampire king to his cousin. "You can clone yourself!" he asked Duzell incredulously. If Duzell could do that, then Shielle wasn't—

"Nope," Ishtar said with a giggle. "Shielle's Duzie's niece!"

"That's sort of a relief…"

"So, anyway, Shielle," Ishtar began with a big smile plastered on her face. "How's uncle Yameene?"

(AN: Yameene was named after his dad. Mostly me being un-creative)

Shielle blinked. "He…" she started. "He died two weeks ago. He left the kingdom to me. I'm sure Yamenne has things under control at home, though…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know, Shielle…" Ishtar apologized, calming down.

"Eh, with the situation as it is now, I've had to get over it pretty quickly."

Duzell looked at his niece. It was still hard to grasp that his sister had fallen in love with a human and had a child, but…she had apparently inherited her mother's personality along with her looks.

"I think you should have left Mil Seii in the Council's rule before we set out," Laphiji commented as he and Yamenne traveled to Pheliosta.

"I couldn't," Yamenne responded, leaning over her horse for the saddle bags. "It's a law in Mil Seii," she added, taking a drink of her canteen. "The Council must have one absolute ruler of the royal family."

"That's an odd law," the dark-haired magician said.

"It was a law my father put into place that no one thought to change since his death," the small princess explained. "It seemed like a law that we wouldn't have to change."

"And with the search parties of Mil Seii the way they are, you have no choice but to retrieve Shielle by yourself," Laphiji said with a nod.

Yamenne looked at the sky. The sun was starting to set. "We should stop somewhere for the night."

Laphiji took out a map and compass. "We're just on the edge of Mil Seii. We've traveled enough for today."

"Hello sir, how can I help you?" a rather tall hotel owner asked.

"A room for two, please," Laphiji answered simply.

"Oh, and who is your young lady companion?" the woman asked.

Laphiji hadn't thought of false identities yet. They needed something that wouldn't attract attention, where people wouldn't ask questions and something they could get away with. People would recognize them eventually if they claimed to be cousins, they didn't look enough alike to be siblings…"This is my wife."

Yamenne gave a mental start. Couldn't he have thought of something better? But she relented and bowed to the lady anyway.

"I'll need your last name for the records, then."

"Gaimme," Yamenne responded, trying to help with the false identities thing.

"Oh, you two must be newly-weds," the overly-chipper owner said with a smile after having scribbled their "name" on a register.

Yamenne nodded. "Would you mind giving us a room with two beds? I haven't been feeling well lately."

"You two are already expecting!" the woman asked with a smirk.

The small black-haired girl put her hand to her mouth and turned her head. Blushing on cue was not her strong point, but she wasn't about to share a bed with anyone, much less a man...

"Well, honey, you're not showing a bit! I'll get your room ready," the tall manager handed Laphiji a key. "It's room 11. You just get your stuff and I'll have it ready."

The tall La Naan prince nodded and walked back outside with Yamenne to get their things.

"Laphiji, I can carry my own things," Yamenne said when her travel companion started walking into the inn with both saddle bags.

"Not if you have morning sickness."

Yamenne let out a sigh and followed her cousin into the inn. Next time they were going t be business partners with SEPARATE rooms…

"An adviser?" Yameene asked, looking out onto the group of geezers sitting in front of him. "My sister left me in charge of all of you, why would I need just one adviser?"

"To get a second opinion on things before presenting them to the Council," a wrinkled old man explained. "Lady Yamenne is Lady Shielle's adviser. But neither of them are here, so you'll have to have an adviser."

The rest of the council kept quiet, trying to hold their tongues. If either of them were there without the other, Yameene would be the adviser and the other would be in charge, but since the spoiled prince was in charge, they had to keep quiet.

"Fine," Yameene agreed reluctantly. "Bring the sap out."

A bony elderly lady nodded to two guards at the doors. The one armored man and one armored woman opened the doors, letting in a young girl with long black hair.

The prince could tell it wasn't his sister. They had different colored eyes. But she was just as curvy and thin as his sister.

(AN: yup, Yameene has a crazy sister complex)

"And what's your name?"

The young woman bowed a sweeping bow. Or as sweeping as a bow could get with the slinky dress she was wearing. "My name is Diaage, Your Highness."

Yameene smirked an evil smirk. Maybe taking over the kingdom would be more fun than he thought. He ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair and stared at Diaage with wandering blue eyes, thinking of how glorious it would be to have a kingdom and his adviser added to his harem…

Sharlen kept an extremely cold face as he approached the prince in his mother's form. From what he had heard about this kid, the only way to get to him was by sexual manipulation. And by the way he was reacting to his female form…he also needed to be taught a lesson.

Shielle kicked her feet up on one of Ishtar's lounging couches. She'd have to remember to challenge Vord to a sword match the next day. She looked out the window to see that it was a new moon. Ishtar and Vord had gone to bed hours ago, so she was left to sit alone in one of her cousin's many guest rooms and think, for lack of a better word. Sometimes she hated being nocturnal.

She turned her head as Duzell entered the room in his kyawl form. It'd probably be too suspicious if "Ishtar's personal doctor with conspicuously red eyes that no one ever seems to notice" walked into Shielle's room.

Now was the time to get thoughtful. Her uncle changed into his true silver-haired self.

"What…" she started, getting his attention. "What was my mother like? She died while in childbirth."

"Truth be told, she was just like you," he said, taking a seat next to her.

"That's a little clichéd, don't you think?"

"But it's true. It's probably why your father left the kingdom to you as well. If you reminded him of your mother as much as you remind me of her…human nature is a strange thing."

"Don't I know it. You know, I've never tasted human blood because it'd weird me out too much?"

All of a sudden, his niece went quiet and a strange aura filled the room. What in the…?

"Hello, Duzell," a strange yet familiar voice came from his niece. "How have you been these past one hundred years?"

Shielle looked back at Duzie with light blue eyes instead of her black eyes.

"You know exactly how I've been doing, Phelios."

"Why with all the hostility? I thought you'd be happy to find me. Especially since you and my great-granddaughter have been looking for me." Man, did it look weird seeing Shielle with a polite smile plastered on her face.

Duzell looked away as the aura left the room and Shielle regained her own personality.

"What just…?"

"Phelios has always been a tactician…"

"WHAT!"

"He decided to inhabit you."

"If you're going to kill me, tell Ishtar before you do," Shielle said flatly. "So she can tell Yamenne.

"You don't get it, that's the problem, I can't kill you. Phelios knows that I can't kill someone who reminds me so much of my sister."

"Is that a compliment?"

"It's more of a promise to spare your life."

Shielle wrapped her arms around herself. This just felt way too awkward. The merciless vampire king just promised to spare her life? And why in the name of all that is magical did Phelios decide to inhabit her body. Sure, that meant that Duzell wouldn't kill her, but…

"Would you have killed the reincarnation if it was anyone else?"

"As much as I'd hate to admit it…I wouldn't be able to kill Phelios if he was Ishtar."

"This room is too stuffy for conversation," Duzell said, standing up. "And you must be hungry. Since this is Ishtar's home and not yours, I suppose the kitchen doesn't know about your palate?"

"You know what's funny? I have the palate of a kyawl, I can't digest solid foods. Ishtar knows about it, I'm sure she'll alert them somehow," Shielle said thoughtfully. "But I get where you're going with this, Let's go outside."

"Hey, Lady Shielle!" a drunken voice came from the kitchens.

Shielle looked over to see Darres sidekicks getting very, very drunk.

"Need an escort!" Krai cried. (AN: couldn't help it)

"Somebody's going to have a massive hangover tomorrow morning," Shielle grumbled as Duzie scowled as they left the half-lit castle for the gardens

(AN: it might take me longer to update than you'd like sorry, I'm taking 15 hours in my second semester of college right now. I'm doing good to remember my professors and what classes I have. Please be patient, and as always, RR)


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